UCC gets 15.9b for rural communications
May 31, 2014
MTN Uganda has contributed close to sh16b to the Uganda Communications Commission’s (UCC) to support development of the rural communications in the country.
By Raymond Baguma
MTN Uganda has contributed close to sh16b to the Uganda Communications Commission’s (UCC) to support development of the rural communications in the country.
This is a mandatory 2% annual levy on the revenue made by all licensed telecommunications companies operating in the country towards the UCC managed Rural Communications Development Fund (RCDF).
MTN chief, Mazen Mroué, presented the sh15,925,352,350 to UCC’s Godfrey Mutabazi yesterday. Mroué said: “Telecommunications plays an increasingly important role UCC in plans to spread ICT literacy countrywide.
Projects supported under the Rural Communications Development fund focus on ensuring access and usage of ICT services for the underserved areas of Uganda.
So far, some of the projects implemented by UCC through the fund include 76 Internet points of presence, 106 Internet cafes, 78 ICT training centres, 4,099 public pay phones, 78 district web portals, 13 multi-purpose community tele-centres, 45 postal projects, 708 school ICT laboratories, 174 health ICT facilities, 90 voice network sites, 106 content development projects, two local governance projects.
This has ensured voice and data coverage in all districts, sub counties and towns of Uganda, teaching of computer studies as a subject in at least 50% of government-aided secondary schools and basic ICT equipment in all district government hospitals.
While receiving the cheque, the UCC boss Godfrey Mutabazi said MTN is the first telecom company to remit its RCDF obligations for this year and pledged that the funds will be utilised to meet the specific objectives to improve the communications sector.
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